Atmospheric Lead Deposition into Guarapina Lagoon, Rio de Janeiro State, Brazil

The rate of anthropogenic mobilization of heavy metals is higher than the natural supply to the sedimentary environments. I n rivers, lakes and various other terrestrial areas, the drastic increase of heavy metals has been accredited to human activity (Tyler 1972). Erlenkeuser et al. (1974) suggest that Cd, Pb, Zn and Cu in the upper sediment sequence of sediment cores collected from Kiel Bight in the Baltic Sea, are the result of fossil fuel use in industries. Such assemblages have been identified in North America by Goldberg et al. (1977, 1979) from both coastal regions. Sediment cores taken from the deepest part of lakes and lagoons have been analysed to study the historical development …